Individual Education Program (IEP) Development

IEP stands for Individual Education
Program. Federal law mandates that each individual with a
disability have an IEP developed for him/her. Since physical
education is specifically listed as a part of special education in
the federal law, it is imperative that physical education teachers be
a part of the IEP process. One of the best ways to do this is to
become an active member of the IEP team. A physical education teacher
can do this in several ways, such as:

attend the IEP team meetings,

keep in close communication with the IEP team
leader and other team members,

assess the student in the areas of motor
skills, sports skills, and physical fitness and give that
information to the IEP team so appropriate IEP goals can be
written for the student,

work closely with the related service
providers, such as the physical therapist, occupational therapist,
and speech therapist,

talk with your administrator and make sure
he/she understands the importance of your participation in all
phases of the IEP process (assessment, team meetings, goal
writing, updates, etc.)

Federal law requires that each IEP contain the
following information:

present level of
performance - what your student can and cannot do compared to other children
of a similar age;

annual goals and objectives - what your student is going
to be working on during the next twelve months;

implementers - who wll be
responsible for implementing the short term objectives;

special education
and related services - the specially designed instruction and other services
the school is going to use to make sure your student meets his/her goals
and objectives;

participation in regular education programs - how much of the school day your student will be in classes and activities with children
who do NOT have a disability;

schedule of review - when the progress of your
student will be checked; and

transition - if your student is age 14 or
older, you need to begin planning what your student will do after
graduation and what training/education your student needs to get there.

All of the above IEP requirements make the physical educator more accountable for including students with disabilities in regular physical education whenever it is appropriate. If it is not possible to include the student in regular physical education, then the physical educator must document efforts to involve the student, including supplementary aids and services.

Writing goals and objectives:

The physical education instructor should have
direct input in this part of the IEP. Before writing any goals or
objectives the instructor must first assess the student (see the
assessment section) to determine his/her strengths and weaknesses in
motor skills, sports skills, fitness, and aquatics (if available).
Based on the results, the long-term goals and short-term objectives
are written, and should directly relate to the student's overall
program goal and the student's present level of performance.

Example of present level of performance, long
term goal, and short-term objective:

Present level of performance: Jasmine is
able to walk, run, gallop, and slide at the mature level. However,
she has difficulty with the two foot standing long jump and vertical jump.
She can long jump six inches and can barely get her feet off the
ground when jumping vertically.

Long term goal: Jasmine will improve the distance of her
horizontal and vertical jumps by using mature arm and leg
actions when jumping.

Short-term objective: When performing the standing long jump Jasmine will
independently use the mature arm pattern by moving her arms high and to the rear at the start of
the jump and swinging them forward with force during takeoff, during four
out of five trials.